Police intervention led to the halting of a marriage between a 12-year-old girl and 72-year-old Habib Khan in the Pakistani town of Charsadda after police arrested the groom and the “nikah khwan” (person performing the marriage ceremony), but the girl’s father escaped.
According to ARY News, a case has been filed under the Child Marriage Act against the girl’s father, a 72-year-old man, and the “Nikkah Khwan.” Despite laws against child marriage, such cases continue to occur across Pakistan.
The girl’s father, Alam Saeed, reportedly agreed to sell his daughter to the old man for 500,000 Pakistani rupees.
Child marriage cases on the rise
Recently, similar cases in Rajanpur and Thatta where girls were being forced to marry older men have been thwarted by law enforcers. In Rajanpur, Punjab, an 11-year-old girl was forced to marry a 40-year-old man, while in Thatta, a girl was forcibly married off to a 50-year-old landlord before police swung into action and rescued her.
In another incident on May 6, police arrested a 70-year-old man in Swat for marrying a 13-year-old girl. The girl’s father brokered the marriage, but police quickly detained the groom and his father. The “nikkah khwan” and a witness to the marriage were also arrested, and the minor girl was sent to hospital for a medical check-up.
legal age of marriage in pakistan
In Pakistan, the legal age of marriage varies by gender. While the internationally recognized minimum age is 18 for both sexes, Pakistani law allows men to marry at 18, while women can marry as early as 16.
Although Sindh province took a step towards gender equality in 2013 by passing a bill raising the minimum age for marriage to 18 for both men and women, this progressive reform has not been adopted and implemented across the country, and disparities in the legal marriage ages for men and women remain in other parts of the country.
According to ARY News, a case has been filed under the Child Marriage Act against the girl’s father, a 72-year-old man, and the “Nikkah Khwan.” Despite laws against child marriage, such cases continue to occur across Pakistan.
The girl’s father, Alam Saeed, reportedly agreed to sell his daughter to the old man for 500,000 Pakistani rupees.
Child marriage cases on the rise
Recently, similar cases in Rajanpur and Thatta where girls were being forced to marry older men have been thwarted by law enforcers. In Rajanpur, Punjab, an 11-year-old girl was forced to marry a 40-year-old man, while in Thatta, a girl was forcibly married off to a 50-year-old landlord before police swung into action and rescued her.
In another incident on May 6, police arrested a 70-year-old man in Swat for marrying a 13-year-old girl. The girl’s father brokered the marriage, but police quickly detained the groom and his father. The “nikkah khwan” and a witness to the marriage were also arrested, and the minor girl was sent to hospital for a medical check-up.
legal age of marriage in pakistan
In Pakistan, the legal age of marriage varies by gender. While the internationally recognized minimum age is 18 for both sexes, Pakistani law allows men to marry at 18, while women can marry as early as 16.
Although Sindh province took a step towards gender equality in 2013 by passing a bill raising the minimum age for marriage to 18 for both men and women, this progressive reform has not been adopted and implemented across the country, and disparities in the legal marriage ages for men and women remain in other parts of the country.
